Hello,
I've had this pair of HO RTR box cars for more than a decade and I have no recollection of where they came from.
NKP_XM-outside braced by Edmund, on Flickr
They have individually applied ladders and grab irons. The end grabs are a bit crudely secured in molded, raised bosses.
NKP_XM-outside braced-ends by Edmund, on Flickr
While gathering a few dozen victims for a basic application of weathering this pair were once again brought to my attention.
NKP_XM-outside braced-c by Edmund, on Flickr
The doors are non operable and if I were to pick nits I would note that they are recessed below the height of the bracing and, therefore, wouldn't have been able to open. Sort of like a plug door, but not.
NKP_XM-outside braced-b by Edmund, on Flickr
Note the "hi-C" in Nickel. Each car is painted in a slightly different shade of oxide red. I question the 4-44 build date* as well.
* War Emergency. See below replies.
NKP_XM-outside braced-a by Edmund, on Flickr
While I'm not losing any sleep over this quandry it would be nice to know of their origin. I'm working on a database of all my freight cars and it would be nice to "fill-in the blanks" on this pair.
Thanks, Ed
Ed,
If they were not RTR I would have guessed Branchline. How 'bout Red Caboose or Intermountain?
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I did build quite a few Red Caboose and IM kits in the late '90s, Tom. As I recall they were mostly wood refrigerator cars but there might have been a few single-sheathed box cars, too
This Santa Fe car seems to be of similar construction to my NKP cars:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ho-scale-atsf-129799-40-outside-1825768640
Confirmed! Thanks Tom...
https://www.whiterosehobbies.com/products/intermountain-46073-ho-scale-40-wwii-war-emergency-boxcar-nickel-plate-road-nkp
You might have something there with Intermountain. Those mounting bosses on the ends sure look, well, prominent. I believe it is what they are calling a War Emergency box car.
Thanks! Intermountain looks like the winner
Ed
I just located those two numbers from this link:
https://www.intermountain-railway.com/modelersclub/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/06-June-Complete-Small.pdf
Check the bottom of pg. 10 of 12. IM, it is!
tstageCheck the bottom of pg. 10 of 12. IM, it is! Tom
Thank you!
Had I included the "War Emergency" in my search I might have had better luck. All my hits seemed to be pointing to the Accurail cars.
Intermountain was becoming a pretty big player in the "premium" rolling stock market. They seem to have fallen off the radar lately. I've got quite a few of their F units and other cars. I really like their NYC Pacemaker 40' steel cars. Their kits went together very well.
Cheers, Ed
You're welcome, Ed. I've gotten pretty good at sleuthing. I ended up googling "NKP+HO+8081" and got a hit on both "NKP" and "8081", which were highlighted in the website link text for Intermountain. I did have to play around with word arrangements a bit before nailing it down.
I wonder if longer turnaround times for their RTR rolling stock has hurt IMs business. Anymore it seems like the norm is at least 2 years from the time of announcement-to-delivery.
From what I've observed, IM uses a reserve method for garnering interest in selected road names of specific rolling stock on their website but the reserve has to be through a dealer. Anymore I just wait to see if a piece(s) will be manufactured & released and pick it up then.
Case in point: I reserved two IM NYC flat cars through the NYCSHS Collinwood Shop after IM announced them in Oct '22. (Or, at least that's when I found out about them.) Then, last month, I found out from a NYCSHS email that IM had just released the same-series flat car and that some extras would be available for purchase through the Collinwood Shop. I cancelled my reserve and picked up the two flat cars. I believe some modelers had reserved their flat cars pre-pandemic.
Yea, I've also enjoyed assembling kits from IM, Red Caboose, and Branchline. They could be challenging to put together but I always found them rewarding when it was completed.
They are accually Tichy. Tichy made cars for Intermountain and Ertl and parts for many more companys. Tichy never made compleated cars for mass markets but would sell all the parts needed. In Intermountains case, Intermountain bought the cars and shipped them to China where they were assembled and painted.
rrebellTichy made cars for Intermountain and Ertl and parts for many more companys. Tichy never made compleated cars for mass markets but would sell all the parts needed.
This sounds correct based on the picture, but Tichy cars no not have deep "v-grooves" between the boards. Instead the boards have random depths.
A hallmark of Tichy's USRA single sheathed boxcars is the diagonal braces.
These braces are supposed to extend over the stamped steel car end. Most manufacturers mold these onto the ends.
Tichy tries something different. They molded the brace extensions onto the car sides with a very thin protrusion that was supposed to be glued to the car end... in theory.
In practice the piece would get broken as soon as it was handled, or would be dissolved into nothing by the glue.
I have assembled eight or ten of these cars, and successfully installed these braces only once or twice.
I am sure the factory in China did not even try.
Now that I compare Ed's car to the one on the Tichy website, I see the side diagonal braces go the opposite slant.
Because on this, I doubt it is based on a Tichy model.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
My first thought ws kadee cars. I didnt look hard but it struck me that is something they would make
SHane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
gmpullman Hello, I'm working on a database of all my freight cars and it would be nice to "fill-in the blanks" on this pair. Thanks, Ed
I'm working on a database of all my freight cars and it would be nice to "fill-in the blanks" on this pair.
I keep track of both my locomotives and my rolling stock in the same Excel spreadsheet, which is accessible on my cellphone. It sure has come in handy when I'm at a train show, my LHS, or perusing online to keep me from purchashing duplicates of cars that I already have. It also keeps track of totals so I know when I have "enough" of a given car type.